I only got my decks a few days ago... I can beatmatch pretty well, but sometimes its very hit or miss. The hardest part is getting the tempos fairly close in the first place, while still allowing time for fine tuning. Once you've got em close its much easier to separate the tracks. Of course I've been mixing mp3's for many years so I might just already have that skill wired into my head.

If it's really throwing you off still, just wait till they get close then gallop their way into a few quick beats of being matched, then as they begin to drift just pick a direction to move it (either faster or slower - not the pitch, the actual tune... since its a CD deck use the pitch bend). If it gets worse, you moved it the wrong way, so adjust the pitch accordingly. If it gets better, well you guessed right, adjust the pitch accordingly. Repeat until things are nice and matched.

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quote:

Originally posted by nrjizer I only got my decks a few days ago... I can beatmatch pretty well, but sometimes its very hit or miss. The hardest part is getting the tempos fairly close in the first place, while still allowing time for fine tuning. Once you've got em close its much easier to separate the tracks. Of course I've been mixing mp3's for many years so I might just already have that skill wired into my head. If it's really throwing you off still, just wait till they get close then gallop their way into a few quick beats of being matched, then as they begin to drift just pick a direction to move it (either faster or slower - not the pitch, the actual tune... since its a CD deck use the pitch bend). If it gets worse, you moved it the wrong way, so adjust the pitch accordingly. If it gets better, well you guessed right, adjust the pitch accordingly. Repeat until things are nice and matched.

I will try that out next time and hopefully it will work out. Well, at least my track selection is good.

learning to separate the 2 songs in your head while ur tryin to mix is a skill u pick up gradually. just keep at it and u'll get it eventually!

quote:

Originally posted by nrjizer If it's really throwing you off still, just wait till they get close then gallop their way into a few quick beats of being matched, then as they begin to drift just pick a direction to move it (either faster or slower - not the pitch, the actual tune... since its a CD deck use the pitch bend). If it gets worse, you moved it the wrong way, so adjust the pitch accordingly. If it gets better, well you guessed right, adjust the pitch accordingly. Repeat until things are nice and matched.

good advice.

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quote:

Originally posted by RIP_Technics learning to separate the 2 songs in your head while ur tryin to mix is a skill u pick up gradually. just keep at it and u'll get it eventually!

this is usually determined by how many times you have heard the song your mixing

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Originally posted by dallas this is usually determined by how many times you have heard the song your mixing

I disagree. I can mix most new tracks that I rarely/never heard before with no problem, I think once the brain gets used to separating 2 tracks, you tend to understand which belongs to which etc and which is one is faster or slower. the way you mix is important as well of course, if you use split cue, one ear in one ear out, both tracks on the headphones or just 1 on PFL etc... keep practising, as usual!

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just practice a lot. I thought after a few months of mixing I was good at beat matching. Then after another 6 months I realised I was so much better, now 9 months after that I realise I am so much better.

yet now I realise I still need improvement. So I guess the key is practice practice practice.

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Originally posted by benoitfan I think once the brain gets used to separating 2 tracks, you tend to understand which belongs to which etc and which is one is faster or slower.

I agree completely. I've noticed that eventually you just sense if the cued song needs to be nudged up a little or slow down a little. I definitly remeber when it used to be confusing and frusterating for me when I couldn't distinguish between either. It still happens sometimes but I've noticed that i've gotten alot better at it.

Boomer187 said it well too. The longer you are spinning for you will definitly notice plateaus and improvements along the way

If you have the skill down, knowing a track has nothing to do with beatmatching. Knowing a track is good for making a transistion since you will know the buildups and breaks in a song, but even then after a while you can get through that too by physically seeing it on the vinyl. As everyone has said, just practice a lot and seperating the beats in your head is automatic, as well as knowing immediately whether to slow down or speed up the track.

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I also agree that knowing whether to slow down or speed up is just something you get after awhile and it can not really be explained ... you "just know". The other thing i think that is helpful is to first just drop the needle on the record and get them close, then cue up the track and once you get good at cueing up then you will have them beatmatched right off the bat and can listen for them to drift out and make a pitch adjustment. This may seem obvious to some people, but when i fist started mixing i would just drop the needle and start trying to get the beats lined up, which is much more difficult in my opinion.

A question about "sensing" which track is going faster or slower...

I can do this ok - been DJing for about 1.5yrs now - but if I put the headphone to my ear and listen to one track only, I can't, for the LIFE OF ME, figure out which one is off.

Through the monitors works for me instead of through one headphone, but I want to get away from that since I'm learning with a third deck right now and it is much more difficult to guage the off beats through the monitors alone.

Helppppp....